Lemon Cheesecake Bread Pudding

5 from 1 vote

This spectacular Lemon Cheesecake Bread Pudding is based on the Lemon Cheesecake I make at the restaurant. It is extremely popular and very unusual. This version of a bread pudding is very quick and easy to make.

Prep Time30

Cook Time35

Total Time1 5

Course: Bread Pudding

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread pudding, easy to make, Lemon Bread Pudding

Servings: servings

Calories: 481kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

9x9 square pan or
6 cup Jumbo Muffin Pan or
6 6 ounce ramekins

Ingredients

¾ pound Brioche or Challah (340 grams)
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (114 grams)
½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon citric acid powder, optional
⅓ cup sour cream (75 grams)
1 cup half and half
⅓ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Instructions

If the bread is whole, slice abut ¾" thick. Dry the slices on cooling racks for 4 to 6 hours until stale but not dried out. This can take 4 to 6 hours. Once dried, stack several slices up and cut them vertically. Cross cut them into ¾" cubes. There should be about 8 cups. Place them in a large bowl. Set aside.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping as necessary. Be sure to get to the bottom of the bowl and into the edges so there will be no lumps.
Add the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla, citric acid, and sour cream processing until smooth.
Add the half and half and lemon juice. Process until smooth and all is combined.
Pour the liquid mixture over the bread cubes, stirring well to make sure all the bread is coated with the liquid.
Let the bread mixture sit for 15 to 30 minutes until the bread is soaked through and no liquid is sitting on the bottom of the bowl. The bread should not be mushy but wet all the way through. Stir several times to make sure the liquid is evenly soaking the bread.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
For a single bread pudding, pour the mixture into a 9” square pan that has been very well sprayed with a non-stick baking release.
For individual bread puddings: Use six 6-ounce ramekins or Texas muffin cups. Spray very well with a non-stick baking release and divide between the ramekins, filling them all the way to the top.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes until set and a tester comes out clean.
If using the individual ramekins or muffin pans, cool for about 10 minutes and turn out.
Serve warm with the one of the following sauces: The Blueberry Sauce from the Lemonade Cake, the Lemon Soaking Syrup from the Lemon Strawberry Cake or the Lemon Rum soaking syrup from the Lemon Rum Bundt Cake
Serves 6 individual bread puddings or 6 to 8 from the 9" pan.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

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The bread used should be stale but not hard or completely dried out. While any bread can be used, Brioche and Challah are often used for their taste.

The liquid base can be made in a mixer by following the same steps as for the food processor. Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so it mixes without lumps.

If another type of bread is used, it may require more or less liquid so add ¾ of the half and half first. If the bread is not completely coated, stir in the rest of the half and half.

While citric acid powder is listed as an ingredient, it can be omitted.

Nutrition